Fear over DACA, deportation evident at Granville immigration panel

Kristin Santiago, of Bridges Not Walls and a pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Heath, speaks during a public forum to discuss DACA in Licking County on Thursday night at United Church of Granville. (Photo: Sara C. Tobias/The Advocate)Buy Photo

Standing in a church in Granville Thursday night, a woman originally from Mexico and now a Green Card holder said, “We get labeled ‘immigrants’ and that label sticks. We are human beings. Immigrants are people, just like us.”

Bridges Not Walls (BNW) of Licking County hosted an open panel Thursday at the United Church of Granville on DACA — an acronym for “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” — and related issues involving undocumented people.

DACA policy status is currently in legislative limbo and a contentious talking point and bargaining tool for both major political parties.

As described by member Joseph Hopkinson in his opening remarks, BNW “is a local community organization based in Licking County. We’re all greatly concerned about immigration, especially in the aftermath of the 2016 election.

“We have a social media firestorm going on,” Hopkinson continued. “We have the National Guard being called to the border and we’ve been told there will be no DACA deal… If you’re on DACA, right now, you’re just feeling scared.”

He noted some speakers had dropped out of the Thursday panel citing fears of arrest or other safety concerns in a charged environment. Illustrating those concerns, some of Thursday’s speakers asked not to be photographed and their full names were not shared.

In all, about three dozen gathered to hear poetry, personal stories from undocumented people and immigrants who have been granted Green Cards, as well as activists and faith leaders who work closely with those grappling with current DACA policy uncertainty and the threat of deportation.

Hopkinson is originally from Canada. He spoke of inequities and uneven application of immigration laws, noting he and his wife’s granting of citizenship — in terms of speed of granting — was possibly facilitated by the fact both “are very white.”

“A lawyer warned the Green Card interview could last two hours and involve bizarre questions,” he remembered, such as which side of the door a handle would be located, or whether a marriage had actually been consummated.

In the end, the interview took about 20 minutes for Hopkinson and his wife, but he also recalled later being told to sing “Proud to be American” before receiving his citizenship documents.

Tanya Hedges of BNW read poetry composed by a young female immigrant working toward her MFA in poetry.

The poems described how “being an undocumented immigrant means many decisions are taken away from me…” that “…one doesn’t decide to migrate because migration is easy… You don’t blithely pack a suitcase…” instead you focus on the effort “to survive.”

Two current Denison students who asked not to be named shared their personal stories of family immigration and of harshly learning “how different life is as a DACA recipient,” as siblings were unable to take advantage of scholarship opportunities.

Both Denison students said they had nearly reconciled themselves to community college education paths before being given opportunity for college studies at DU.

One student recalled that when she shared the news of her Denison opportunity with her mother, her mom said, “This is it! You are the reason we came to this country.”

At Denison, another student said, she had found “a lot of hope and inspiration.”

Alejandra Leon was born in Mexico and now has a Green Card, but recounted her own pathway to citizenship and challenges and fears along the way, including the possibility of being permanently separated from spouse and child.

As someone who originally came to the U.S. as a “dependent,” she described the bureaucratic challenges and “massive amount of paperwork” she faced. She also said contrary to claims many come to the U.S. to enjoy social welfare benefits, the system works to thwart that possibility.

“DACA people are Americans,” Leon said, “and they’re being told ‘you don’t belong here.’ There is something wrong here. The immigration system needs to be reorganized. It’s very difficult to navigate. It’s way too easy to fall into undocumented status.”

Pastor Kristin Santiago of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Heath has worked and served in pastoral capacities in border churches and cities in southern Texas.

She told of undocumented families who have been divided by deportation of family members while others are living in sanctuary churches to avoid the same fate.

She remembered a young girl who cowered under her bed each time medical helicopters made flyovers, thinking they were coming for her and her family.

Sharing stories of her time “in a little storefront Lutheran Church in El Paso, across from Juarez,” Mexico, she said, “My heart belongs to all God’s people.”

She told the story of one man who carried his son in his arms, all the way from El Salvador to El Paso, a distance of about “3,100 kilometers,” seeking a better, safer life for his child.

“By what right can anyone say to anybody they can’t come,” Santiago asked.

Before concluding the program, a question and answer and strategy discussion was held, and attendees provided the opportunity to volunteer or assist in activism.

Hopkinson said, “DACA is all about children. We have immigrant people here now in Licking County, a very red county… There are people in our community who are afraid to go to church. They are undocumented and they try to be hidden and under the radar... We’re here for you. We have your back. We were worried about security tonight… We had so many cancellations. But we have your back. You have friends here.”